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Jayson Myers and Plant
Energy use by manufacturing sector
Canadian manufacturers consumed 2,526,175 terajoules of energy in
2005, the last year for which statistics are available. Paper, primary metals, petroleum refining and chemical industries consumed the most energy, accounting for about 77 per cent.
Type of energy consumed
Electricity and natural gas are the most prevalent types of energy, accounting for 56% of manufacturers’ consumption.
Increase in energy use by sector
Manufacturers increased their energy use by only 0.6% between
2001 and 2005. The deep reductions in consumption by textiles,
clothing and leather products industries reflect production closures
in those sectors. However, the most energy intensive sectors tended
to cut their energy use, or see it increase very modestly. The largest increases in energy use have come in less energy intensive industries.
Inflation
Consumer price inflation jumped to 2% in February. Most provinces
are at or well below the national average. The exception is Alberta
where consumer prices were 4.9% higher than in February 2006.
Retail sales
Retail sales in western Canada far outstrip sales performance east
of Manitoba. Sales in Ontario were only 1.8% higher in January on a
year-over-year basis and in contrast to the 11.2%, 8.2% and 8.9%
increases recorded in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Trends information is provided by Plant, Canada’s Industrial Newspaper. Source: Jayson Myers, chief economist with Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters. Purchasing b2b and Plant are both published by Rogers Media.
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